Food Addiction and Drug Addiction Effects Brain In Similar Way

Food Addiction Effects Many of Us Without Realizing It

For those of us who love that extra slice of cake or scarf a large bag of chips and a liter of soda, you may not know that you are addicted to certain foods. Scientists in the medical community say that chemical reactions affect your brain with food addiction much the same way that people respond to drugs and alcohol. Food addiction paves the way to high glucose, prediabetes, and the diabetes type II that is likely to follow along with cardiovascular disease. Food addiction can be overcome but only if you recognize it for what it is.

A Yale study watched the brain activity of 48 women that were given chocolate milkshakes while the neural activity was monitored. This activity was similar to that of drug addicts with the neurotransmitter dopamine surging in the brain.

The brain imaging scans show that high sugar and fat stimulates the brain just like opiates do. This high fat, high calorie and high sugar triggers the strongest reaction in the brain. Eating this junk food stimulates the brain and gives us pleasure so it creates a pleasure reward system. The problem with food addiction is that the more of it we eat, the effect is lessened and we want more to get the feeling of pleasure. The surge of dopamine can be two to ten times the normal amount of other natural feel good activities like eating and sex.

With food addiction people develop a high tolerance to these sugars, fats and calories and so need more and more to get satisfied just like an addict or alcoholic does. Many times in spite of their own desire and social pressure to not be obese, people cannot easily overcome this addiction. This is why sometime we eat to excess even when we’re full, we have anxiety about not being able to eat what we want and have emotional issues related to food.

Yale made a food addiction survey you can take it to see if you are addicted to food, here is the instruction sheet for scoring the survey. An abbreviated online version of the test is here. A lot of people and especially kid’s have food addiction but are mostly unaware because eating food is a natural human behavior. Just think how kids suck down big gulps, eat candy and chips and are never satisfied. They are being set up for diabetes and obesity and all the complications that follow when they get older.

One third of American adults are obese and the number is growing all the time. There is a diabetic epidemic raging all over the world from processed foods and too much sugar. It is possible to break this cycle by making a conscious effort to abstain from the bad foods and sugary drinks. It takes about a month to overcome a bad habit and replace it with a new one. I found out on my own that the cravings and desire for sweets, salt and fat will diminish and natural foods will seem sweet and you don’t need nearly as much sweetness to satisfy.

On my website I try to give people the knowledge and tools to overcome prediabetes and along with it all the issues of bad food, sugars, carbohydrates, fats, etc. are covered. I reversed prediabetes and am no longer prediabetic. I want to show others how to do this. Check out my site and the “Nuts & Bolts” page to get started here.